Fairytales and Fantasy Workshop Foundation and Kindergarten, Years 1 and 2

Education Resource

CONTENTS

PREPARATION FOR YOUR ACMI

VISIT 4

Organisation of students ................................................. 4

Bring on the day .............................................................. 4

About this Teacher Resource .......................................... 4

TUNING-IN (BEFORE VISITING ACMI) 5

Defining narrative structure ............................................. 5

Defining fairytales ............................................................ 6

Activities .......................................................................... 6

AT ACMI 10

Outline of the day at ACMI ............................................ 10

REFLECTION (AFTER VISITING ACMI) 11

Story conventions .......................................................... 11

Professional studio experience ...................................... 12

Interpersonal skills......................................................... 12

Fairytales and Fantasy ACMI Education Resource

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The Workshop: Fairytales and Fantasy

Fairytales and Fantasy enables students to experience the creation of a story

and to develop their understanding of genre, characterisation, film and narrative

structure.

This exciting workshop also provides students with a hands-on exploration of

film and television production.

Venue: Studio 1 ACMI

AusVELS: Foundation, Levels 1, Level 2.

ACMI programs support the implementation of AusVELS, drawing together the

three strands and supporting student growth across domains.

AusVELS Strand

AusVELS Domains

Discipline based learning English (drawn from the Australian Curriculum) The Arts - Media and drama

Physical, personal and social learning

Interpersonal Development Personal Learning

Interdisciplinary learning Information and communication technology (ICT) Communication Thinking processes

Workshop aims:

To develop students’ understanding of the structure of narrative.

To reinforce students’ understanding of the fairytale genre.

To introduce students to features of screen texts.

To introduce students to film and television production processes.

To introduce students to concepts related to camera use: framing, shot

types, angles etc.

To introduce students to green-screen technology.

Please note: Each student taking part in the workshop is required to sign a participation agreement. The nature of the workshop requires ACMI to film, photograph and make sound recordings of students. The signed participation agreement indicates that parents/guardians agree to the above and allow a USB copy of the student’s work to be provided to the school and retained at ACMI for archival and promotional purposes.

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PREPARATION FOR YOUR ACMI VISIT

Organisation of students

To help prepare for the experience teachers will need to divide the students into

two groups.

Group 1: The mischievous cheeky elves.

These elves sneak very quietly into Fairytale Land and borrow all the objects

that are important to the fairytales. These elves may want to:

practise sneaking around very quietly

practise creating mischievous, sneaky, facial expressions

create some elf ears and wear elf costumes.

Group 2: The brave helper elves.

These elves walk bravely into Fairytale Land and put back all the borrowed

objects, saving the fairytales! These elves may want to: practise walking like strong, brave elves on a mission

practise creating brave facial expressions

create some elf ears and wear elf costumes.

Bring on the day

A copy of ACMI’s Participation and Licence Agreement for each student,

signed by their guardian.

Additional costumes and props (optional).

To make the most of the ACMI experience it will be helpful if students are

familiar with the following fairytales: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red

Riding Hood, Aladdin, Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk.

About this Teacher Resource

This resource enables teachers to prepare students for their visit to ACMI by providing a context for the workshop. The resource includes optional Tuning in and Reflection activities that aim to complement and extend workshop experiences provided by ACMI.

Teachers are encouraged to select or modify activities to best suit the interests and

abilities of their students.

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TUNING-IN

(BEFORE VISITING ACMI)

Defining narrative structure

Ask students to explain what they think is meant by the word ‘story’. List titles of stories known by students to create a list of ‘stories we know’. Read three or four stories to the class. Discuss each, using the following questions as a guide:

Where does the story take place?

When does the story take place?

Who are the main characters?

What problem do the main characters have?

How do the main characters solve the problem?

What happens in the end?

Most stories are a complete unit with a beginning, middle and end. Orientation (beginning) Introduces when and where the story takes place, often introduces the main characters. Complication (middle) Something happens, usually a problem that has to be solved in some way. The story continues as the main characters try to resolve the problem. There can be more than one complication in a story. Resolution (end) The problem is solved and the story ends. A moral or lesson may be evident in a fairytale.

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Ask students to identify patterns in the stories they have read. Encourage

students to make statements, for example:

All the stories start by telling us about the main character and where this character lived.

The main character usually has a problem that needs to be solved.

Introduce students to simple story structure and related terminology and encourage them to identify the orientation, complication and resolution of some of the stories.

Defining fairytales

Display a range of fairytales in the classroom for children to read.

Introduce the term fairytales.

Read Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hansel and

Gretel, Aladdin, or Jack and the Beanstalk to the class.

Ask what things are similar about the fairytales we know or have been reading.

Activities

Fairytale recipe As a class, discuss what students believe to be the elements of a fairytale.

Draw a large cauldron and ask students to help you create a recipe for fairytales

by suggesting ingredients that might go into them. Ingredients may include:

magic or trickery

enchanted places

good and bad characters

unusual characters (giants, witches, dwarfs, talking animals)

a message or moral

a happy ending

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Fairytale characters As a class, list the main characters from one particular fairytale and describe

each character’s role in the story.

In many fairytales there is a hero who will save the day and an evil character

who will try to hurt or ruin the main character’s life. Choose a fairytale and

outline the good and bad characters. How did you know that they were good or

bad?

Ask students to draw a good or bad character from their favourite fairytale.

What colours did you use?

What details make that character good or bad?

Variations on a fairytale

Many variations of fairytales exist. Act out a modern day scene from a classic

fairytale you have read or watched as a class. Ask students to include the key

characters and add their own modern day twists. For example, rather than

Rapunzel letting down her hair to meet her prince, he could call her on his

mobile.

Fairytale narrative structure

Print a variety of screen shots (15 - 20) from the key scenes of a fairytale film

and ask students to put them in order (a large number of screen shots can be

found at www.disneyscreencaps.com).

As a class watch or read a popular fairytale and ask students to complete the

following worksheet:

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Fairytale Narrative

Where does the fairytale begin? Draw a picture of the setting:

Who is in the fairytale? Draw three main characters:

Name ________________ Name ________________ Name ________________

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What happens in the middle of the fairytale? Draw one of the problems in the story:

Was the problem solved? Draw a picture of the ending:

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AT ACMI

During the workshop, students participate in the production of their scenes,

filmed on the green screen in Studio 1 using virtual sets.

Students are also given jobs as part of the crew on set.

Please note:

ACMI provides a range of costumes, wigs and props for students to use in Studio 1.

Students may bring their own costumes but must be able to put them on over their

uniform (there are no change rooms in Studio 1). Alternatively, students are welcome

to arrive at ACMI in costume.

The wearing of light green, yellow or reflective clothing is not suitable for a green

screen workshop.

Outline of the day at ACMI

9.45am: Arrival at ACMI School Entrance

10:00am: Introduction to ACMI

10:30am: Morning tea break

11:00am: Group 1 - Fairytales and Fantasy production (Studio 1)

Group 2 - ACMI Screen Worlds exhibition

12:00am: Group 2 - Fairytales and Fantasy production (Studio 1)

Group 1 - ACMI Screen Worlds exhibition

1.00pm: Lunch break

2.00pm: Premiere screening of Fairytales and Fantasy

2.30pm: Conclusion

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REFLECTION

(AFTER VISITING ACMI)

Below are some questions you may like to ask in a class discussion to help

students to reflect upon their experience at ACMI.

Story conventions

Q: Who did we meet in the beginning of the story? A: Nelly the News Reporter who introduces Fairytale Land, Wanda the Witch and Warwick the Wizard. Q: Where did the film take place? A: Fairytale Land Q: What was the complication? A: Wanda the Witch and the mischievous elves hide objects important to the fairytale narratives. Q: What was the resolution? A: The problem was solved. Warwick the Wizard and the brave elves returned all the objects and saved the fairytales. Q: Who were the characters in the story? A: Wanda the Witch, Warwick the Wizard, Nelly the Newsreader, brave and mischievous elves. Q: Who were the good characters? A: Warwick the Wizard and the brave elves Q: Who were the mischievous characters? A: Wanda the Witch and the mischievous elves

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Professional studio experience

What did you learn about working in the studio?

What did you learn about the green screen?

What equipment was used to make the film? (eg. camera, lights, green screen, microphones, costumes and props)

What were some of the crew roles? (eg. clapper loader, countdown, floor manager, director)

What was the most difficult part of acting in front of the camera?

Interpersonal skills

What was the most challenging thing about the workshop?

What was the most enjoyable thing about the workshop?

How well did you work as a team?

Did you help anyone in your group with their costume, to remember their lines, with their acting or something else?